Japanese player Naomi Osaka has gained a lot of attention for her outfits at Wimbledon but today it was the quality of her tennis that stood out.
This was a display of power hitting and Osaka was in fine form today during the fourth round of the grand slam tournament held in London.
Normally Sabalenka is able to blast opponents off court but today Osaka was more aggressive while managing to take all that the World No.1 could throw at her.
Osaka ,now a mother and maturing at 28, remained very composed and her demeanour was calm considering the fireworks she was letting off.
The first set raced by with Osaka claiming it 6-2. The crowd sensed an upset.
Arena Sabalenka regrouped in the second set and was serving heavy. Osaka has won 19 matches out of 21 this year when she has won the first set.
The second set went to a tie break with Osaka pulling it out 7-2 to knock out the No.1 seed and beat Sabalenka for the first time in their last three tour meetings.
Osaka’s ball placement was brilliant today and her serve was a weapon. She remained mentally tough throughout.
Osaka is seeded No. 14 at this year’s Wimbledon but if she continues to play like this she could have a deep run at Wimbledon and perhaps claim her fifth Grand Slam title. She has already won two U.S. Open and two Australian Open titles. She tends to do well on hard courts.
She is now in the quarter-final.
After the match Osaka said: It’s been a long time since I had so much fun on the court. To do it here means a lot.”
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